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20
Dec 2022
Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal smashes £20,000 target for Resurrected Bites
This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Today, Vicky gives an update on the fundraising, with five days left of the appeal.
Please give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help.
An incredible £22,000 has been raised for Resurrected Bites in less than four weeks thanks to the generosity of Stray Ferret readers.
As well as contributions from individuals across the district, many businesses have donated to the Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal.
Taking us over our £20,000 total this week was a fantastic £5,000 from Windsor Private Office Financial Planning, based in Harrogate.
Every penny from those donations goes directly to Resurrected Bites. Click here to see the latest total.
The Stray Ferret chose to support Resurrected Bites after it warned in autumn that it faced significant financial challenges in running its community groceries and pay-as-you-feel cafes, all using food that would otherwise go to landfill.
It costs £7,500 each month to keep the organisation going, and its income was falling short by £3,000 every month.
Michelle Hayes, founder of Resurrected Bites, said:
We launched the appeal on November 29 to run for four weeks until Christmas. With an initially modest target of £5,000, we soon realised we were going to pass that in a matter of days.
We increased the target to £20,000 and your donations continued to roll in.
Knowing the challenges of the cost of living crisis and the extra strain on many household budgets these days, we have been overwhelmed by just how generous our readers have been in supporting Resurrected Bites.
It's all down to the willingness of its members and volunteers to be open about the challenges facing them. From the young Ukrainian family working to build a new life in Knaresborough to the single mum and full-time NHS employee whose circumstances changed dramatically, they have illustrated how vital Resurrected Bites is to so many local people.
Their powerful stories have also highlighted how easily many of us could end up in the same situation.
It's often said that many households are just one pay day away from being in serious financial trouble. If you were to lose your job, or find yourself unable to work, could you cover your bills and still put food on the table?
Read more:
- Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: 'I shouldn't need this - but it's a lifesaver'
- Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: 'We had good jobs but we were still struggling'
- Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: 'My life collapsed like a wicket'
That situation is facing new people every day. Michelle said just this week, there have been more people coming through the doors of the community groceries, looking for support to get them through the toughest of circumstances.
She said:
Resurrected Bites is there to support people with dignity, providing affordable groceries - and reducing food waste at the same time - for as long as people need them.
While calls for help have continued to come in, so have donations of food. Resurrected Bites is often chosen as the recipient of 'reverse advent calendars', where organisers put an item in a box every day through December and donate it all at the end of the month.
Anyone wishing to give food can do so at Resurrected Bites' warehouse at the rear of Disability Action Yorkshire on Hornbeam Park Oval, Harrogate, on Wednesday, December 21 or Thursday, December 22, between 9am and noon.
Meanwhile, we may have passed our £20,000 fundraising target, but our appeal continues right up until Christmas.
Later this week, we'll bring you stories about how Resurrected Bites is helping to make Christmas magical for everyone, ensuring people are fed and children don't go without presents.
Please keep donating to the appeal. It really will make all the difference to local people this Christmas and beyond.
Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas.
It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it.
Click here to contribute now. Thank you.
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